Breathe
by Peppermint Kiss
Summary: One new breath, to start a new beginning... Finding oneself and the others around you just might be one of the hardest things that occurs in a lifetime, as Uchiha Sasuke soon discovers. Written for the 100situations community on Livejournal.


**100situations Prompt 85 – Breathe**

**Title: **Breathe

**Fandom: **Naruto

**Table: **Three

**Prompt:** #85, Breathe

**Disclaimer:** Naruto and all characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto, not me.

**A/N: **A big thank-you to Ailey for beta-ing this! Song lyrics used in this fic are from _Breathe_, by Michelle Branch, and no, I do not own the lyrics or the song. And, I apologize in advance for OOC-ness of Sasuke (mainly) and/or Sakura.

Cheerio!

* * *

_And I take it just a little bit  
I hold my breath and count to ten  
I've been waiting for a chance to let you in..._

She was Haruno Sakura.

Haruno Sakura, the acclaimed medic-nin of Konoha who studied under the Godaime Hokage, Tsunade-sama herself.

Haruno Sakura, who was the best in all of Konoha at chakra control and only exceeded in brute strength by Tsunade-sama.

Haruno Sakura, who had been teased for a wide forehead when she was little, and who had had the biggest crush on Uchiha Sasuke.

But to Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura was the girl whose laugh made the world lighten up just the tiniest bit.

Haruno Sakura was the girl that he had always ignored, and treated cruelly, because he was scared of her. He was scared, because he was always so confused around her.

Uchiha Sasuke hated that feeling of being so helpless. It wouldn't help him in his quest for vengeance against Itachi.

That was partly the reason why he had left Konoha. He had hoped to slip out quietly, but Sakura had been waiting there. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she begged him not to go.

Sasuke had to. He was being consumed by this curse mark, but he also wanted to leave behind the feelings that had started to develop under his cold exterior.

So he left, taking silent care in making sure that Sakura was fixed properly on a bench by the side of the road, where somebody would find her the next morning.

A last "Sasuke-kun" fell as a sigh from her lips before Sakura lost complete consciousness.

* * *

After several harrowing years, his mind addled with the empty promises and lies Orochimaru forced into his still-young mind, Sasuke now wondered what had kept him still fairly sane through that time.

So many times had Sasuke hid in his simple room after a long training session, and he would allow his thoughts to wander to life in Konoha. How Sakura, Naruto, and Kakashi were moving on without him.

But when Orochimaru announced his grand plan to attack Konoha again, Sasuke couldn't help but feel like he was suddenly plummeting down to earth from the sky high above.

_Konoha._

_I left the place where I grew up, where my clan was killed…yet still, Konoha is still my home, no matter if I left it or not._

Sakura's sweet laugh chimed through Sasuke's head, as it usually did these days.

_Will I be able to attack Konoha with Orochimaru?_

* * *

In the end, Sasuke journeyed back to Konoha with Orochimaru. Sasuke felt like he was back in Team Seven, trudging through the streets of Konoha before meeting with Kakashi and the rest of the team for training.

Nostalgic memories wouldn't help Sasuke's purpose here.

Several hours of hard fighting led to Sasuke surrounded by a group of shinobi, their kunais aimed at him.

A shout rang in the street, and a familiar pink head pushed her way through the tight knot of shinobi.

"Sa-Sasuke!" she cried, upon seeing him.

Sasuke turned, locking his spinning Sharingan eyes with vibrant green ones. His arm moved, slightly, extending towards her of its own volition, before Sasuke lowered it.

Then Sasuke bowed his head and said something he thought that he would never say in his life.

"I'm sorry, Sakura." _It took me so long to say it, and now, I wish I hadn't said it…_

_I wish I could explain._

Sasuke pulled out four shuriken, glowing red eyes steadily analyzing the movements of the shinobi. They tensed, and the ninja closest to Sakura shoved her out of the way.

"Loose!" the head ninja yelled, and Sasuke loosed his shuriken at the same time.

He didn't mind the pain. He had enough pain in his life already.

The last thing Sasuke remembered before the world spun dizzily and turned on itself before washing to darkness was the blood trickling, warm on his suddenly cold skin, and Sakura's scream.

* * *

_And I give you just a little time  
I, wonder if you realize  
I've been waiting till I see it in your eyes_

It smelled like antiseptic.

Sasuke had long hated the smell of antiseptic. But then again, from so many visits to the hospital, Sasuke had gotten somewhat used to it, as ironic as it was.

Sasuke blinked open his eyes, his head throbbing, and his body sore. The light invaded his eyes mercilessly. _Konoha hospital._

_So this is where I end up._

The door swung open without creaking (Sasuke vaguely registered that now the doors had better hinges), and a nurse stepped in.

Meeting Sasuke's wary gaze, the nurse immediately ran back out, yelling down the hallway for Sakura.

When Sakura strode briskly into the room, decked out in her medic-nin uniform, Sasuke acted cold, hostile, and ignorant, as he'd always been.

Sakura acted prim and businesslike, a drastic change from the girl Sasuke had known in Team Seven. Yet the stiff demeanor Sakura held didn't help her from betraying the hurt that Sasuke easily saw in her dull eyes.

* * *

Sasuke tried. He tried to talk, to interact with Sakura. But every stilted conversation they attempted to have ended quickly.

Sasuke didn't know why, or whatever was prompting him to act so out of character but he wanted to bring the spark back into Sakura's eyes, the smile back to her lips, and the small spring back into her step.

One spring day, Sasuke awoke to see Sakura copying down his stats, as it was every morning. Turning to look out of the window, Sasuke felt the gentle twitch of a smile on his face.

Even though Uchiha Sasuke never smiled.

"The sakura trees are blooming," he remarked quietly. Sakura stiffened, momentarily, but Sasuke could detect her movement out of the corner of his eye.

"I used to love their blossoms," he continued. "I got it from my mother…every spring, she would take me out to the sakura orchard, and play with me until it was dark."

Silence lapsed again, before Sasuke turned to look back at Sakura.

Sakura stared at him, steadily, before she smiled. It wasn't the large smile full of life that Sasuke had seen so many times before, but it was a beginning, a start.

Beginnings were always good.

* * *

_So I whisper in the dark,  
Hoping you hear me  
Do you hear me?_

It was dark. A nurse had propped the window open, just a crack, so that a breeze might flow into the otherwise stuffy room that smelled like antiseptic.

Sasuke was sure that he had said, over a thousand times in his mind, that he hated the smell of antiseptic.

The breeze carried with it the smell of rain, and newly turned Earth. It smelled of new beginnings within spring.

Sasuke's lips moved slightly, unseen except for the dimmest glimmer of moonlight slanting across his bed.

"Arigato, Sakura. Maybe…I'll find a new beginning, as well."

The words "with you" went unsaid.

* * *

_If I just breathe  
Let it fill the space in between  
I'll know everything is alright  
Breathe  
Every little piece of me  
You'll see  
Everything is alright_

Somewhere at the other end of the hospital, a pink haired medic-nin hunched over the last of the paperwork for the day, the candle that lit up the messy scrawl of her brushstrokes on paper slowly burning out.

At last, the candle flickered out just as Sakura rolled up the scroll and put her brush away. Standing up and stretching, she pushed open the window, blinking up at the starry night sky.

The night air smelled of rain.

Sakura had always loved the rain, ever since she was a little child. Rain told her of new seeds beginning to worm their way out into plants.

Rain. Rain symbolized growth, and new beginnings.

Sakura closed the window, before opening the door to her office and walking down the long hallway to check on a certain patient.

* * *

_If I just breathe_.

In his room, Sasuke took one last breath of the rain-scented air.

A true smile formed on his features as he fell asleep, the breeze ruffling his hair.

Standing in the shadows of the half-open door, a cherry blossom turned to go, an old spring working its way back into her stride.

A new beginning with every new breath.

-_fin_-

A/N: Cha! Reviews are appreciated :)


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